FARMINGTON – The potential to save money while helping the environment prompted town leaders to consider using the wind whistling along the banks of the Sandy River as an alternative source of power.

A wind turbine will be set in place Monday at Farmington’s wastewater treatment plant, Superintendent Steve Moore said Friday.

Looking for ways to reduce an annual $67,000 electrical expense prompted Town Manager Richard Davis and Moore to consider other options.

“With oil going up and utility costs on the rise, it won’t make a real big difference, but anything we can do to reduce it will help,” Moore said.

Davis said every little bit helps, and if it also leads to cleaner energy uses, then that’s an added benefit.

“It demonstrates a commitment from the town to do those things that benefit the environment and saves the taxpayer, or in this case sewer-payers, money,” Davis said.

Wind turbine development has previously centered on larger projects, said Roger Lambert of Strong, a sales representative for All Seasons Home Improvement. The company is a dealer for the turbines created by Southwest Wind Power of Arizona.

Now there is finally a unit that works for personal homes and smaller uses that is more affordable and reliable, he said.

The town has invested $12,500 in the turbine, Moore said, but expects it to pay for itself in about eight years with savings on electricity. Moore will take money from his vehicle reserve account to purchase the turbine.

A cement pad approximately 7-by-9 feet has been constructed as the base for the 33-foot-tall tower, with the tip of the blade extending it to 41 feet, Lambert said. A wind of just eight to 10 miles per hour will turn the wheel and produce electricity.

Wind charts recorded by Dennis Pike at his Fairbanks Road home show Farmington to be a comparatively windy area, Lambert said.

While the treatment facility will use all the electricity it can produce, a homeowner can store electricity with up to 12 months of credit allowed by Central Maine Power, he said. For those with wind turbines, CMP installs a second meter to monitor the extra power and credit the owner. A windy site could produce 400 to 600 kilowatts a month, Lambert said.

Moore will continue to keep looking for ways to reduce utility expenses, including perhaps purchasing more turbines next year or using heat generated by effluent pumps, he said, measures that not only help the budget but also the environment.

“If I was not an environmentalist I wouldn’t have taken the job,” Moore said of his 34 years experience at the treatment plant.